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Money Laundering: Ige, Tsutsui, Abercrombie Raked in $38K from Law Firm
By Selected News Articles @ 6:33 PM :: 5802 Views :: Ethics, Politicians
Millions in political donations fueled by matching bonuses at Boston law firm
by Andrea Estes and Viveca Novak, Open Secrets/Boston Globe, October 29, 2016
Jon Tester didn't come all the way from Montana for the scrambled eggs and bacon. The senator, virtually unknown in Boston, was in a conference room at the Thornton Law Firm that June morning to cash in at one of the most reliable stops on the Democratic fundraising circuit, a law firm that pours millions into the coffers of the party and its politicians.
Tester, a massive, jovial man who raises livestock on his family farm, was more compelling than many of their other breakfast guests, all of them political candidates the firm hoped would defend the interests of trial attorneys. But the drill was basically the same. The personal injury lawyers listened politely for a few minutes, then returned to their offices. And Tester walked away with $26,400 in checks.
But a striking thing happened the day Tester visited in 2010. Partner David C. Strouss received a payment from the firm labeled as a "bonus" that exactly equaled his $2,400 contribution to Tester's campaign, the maximum allowed. A few days later, partner Garrett Bradley — until recently the House assistant majority leader in the Massachusetts legislature — got a bonus, too, exactly matching his $2,400 gift to Tester.
This pattern of payments — contributions offset by bonus payments — was commonplace at Thornton, according to a review of law firm records by the Spotlight Team and the Center for Responsive Politics, a Washington-based non-profit that tracks campaign finance data.
From 2010 through 2014, Strouss and Bradley along with founding partner Michael Thornton and his wife donated nearly $1.6 million to Democratic party fundraising committees and a parade of politicians from Senate minority leader Harry Reid of Nevada to Hawaii gubernatorial candidate David Ige to Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts. Over the same span, the lawyers received $1.4 million listed as "bonuses" in Thornton Law Firm records; more than 280 of the contributions precisely matched bonuses that were paid within 10 days.
CSC Spreadsheet: Thornton Lawyers gave to $13,000 to David Ige, $4,000 to Shan Tsutsui, and $21,000 to Neil Abercrombie between 2010 and 2014—Total Contributions $38,000.
That payback system, which involved other partners as well, helped make Thornton the 11th-ranked law firm nationally for political contributions in 2014, according to data analyzed by the Center, even though the firm is not among the 100 biggest in Massachusetts, much less the U.S.
Thornton, through a spokesman, said its donation reimbursement program was reviewed by outside lawyers and complied with applicable laws. Campaign finance experts said that without reviewing the firm's records, they cannot say the payback system breaks the law, but it raises numerous red flags.
That's because reimbursing people for their political donations is generally illegal, several experts said. When political donors are repaid for their donations, it can conceal the real source of contributions, and enable the unnamed source of the funds to exceed state and federal contribution limits. And in some states — Massachusetts among them — political donations to state candidates from corporations and partnerships such as Thornton Law Firm are flatly illegal.
Reimbursing donors is "among the most serious campaign violations in the view of both the Federal Election Commission and the Department of Justice," said Daniel Petalas, an attorney who served as acting general counsel of the FEC until September.
"Using straw donors to make contributions is illegal," said Larry Noble, general counsel of the Washington-based Campaign Legal Center and a former general counsel of the FEC. "People can go and have gone to prison for this."
Thornton officials declined to comment, instead hiring a former federal prosecutor to respond to the Globe's questions.
The ex-prosecutor, Brian Kelly, said that the bonuses should not have been called bonuses at all because they were paid from the lawyers' own money. He said an accountant deducted the payments from their equity, or ownership, in the firm. When lawyers leave Thornton Law and cash in their equity, he said, their financial settlement with Thornton would be reduced by the amount of the bonuses.
Kelly provided a written statement from Michael Thornton saying that "an error made internally" led to the payments being called bonuses. Thornton said he changed the way they were labelled after several years in 2015 when he discovered the mistake.
"It's obviously not a crime to make lots of donations to politicians and they certainly did that," said Kelly. "But their donation program was vetted by prior counsel and an outside accountant and the firm made every effort to comply with all applicable laws and regulations."
However, campaign finance experts were skeptical about the system Kelly describes, saying it could allow partners to go years before repaying the firm for the bonuses. Regulators could view the bonuses as open-ended loans, they said, making them hidden — and illegal — contributions from the law firm.
"I think they need to be very careful," said James Kahl, former deputy general counsel of the FEC. "The big red flag is monies being advanced and the truing up doesn't happen for many years."
Kelly, who gave varying explanations of the reimbursement policy since first being asked about it in July, declined to provide a copy of a legal opinion that he said justified the repayment program. He also declined to say whether lawyers who left the firm were required to pay when the bonuses they received exceeded their equity in the firm.
But one thing is certain: The policy was so complicated that at least some lawyers at the firm didn't understand it, said former employees. They were just happy to get their money back.
Michael Thornton, a former Marine who served in Vietnam, made his name in the law by becoming a national leader in handling asbestos-related cases, especially those in which victims suffered mesothelioma, a rare but deadly cancer caused by asbestos exposure. Thornton lawyers have handled thousands of such cases, made millions, and even helped to underwrite research into mesothelioma.
But that pipeline of profits was threatened just over a decade ago when some leading politicians, including President George W. Bush, moved to limit damages in class action lawsuits and to allow the victims of asbestos exposure to file their claims for compensation directly to a national trust fund — bypassing lawyers who typically receive a third of any award.
That's when Thornton learned the power of political donations.
The firm's partners contributed heavily to mostly Democratic politicians who, they hoped, would thwart efforts to create the trust fund.
"If it passed, the firm would close," said a former employee who feared retaliation if his name were used. 'Hence the beginning of the political donations."
They gave more and more each year, from $257,300 to federal candidates and the Democratic party in the 2003-2004 election cycle to nearly $1.1 million a decade later, according to the Center — quadrupling their contributions.
Thornton is a small firm — usually 10 or fewer equity partners — but the lawyers punch well above their weight in political fundraising. In the two year election cycle ending in 2014, for example, lawyers at Thornton Naumes, as the firm was then called, donated more than much larger multi-national firms such as Greenberg Traurig a Miami-based law firm that claims 38 offices and 2,000 attorneys.
Over the course of three election cycles — 2010, 2012 and 2014 — Thornton partners contributed more than $3.4 million to candidates and the party nationwide, especially Democratic Senate candidates who opposed overhauling the asbestos litigation system.
The partners have been major benefactors to the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, the party's Senate fundraising arm. From 2007 through the middle of this year, Thornton partners gave the DSCC, which has higher contribution limits than do candidates, more than $1.5 million.
Just one Republican senator has collected contributions from Thornton's lawyers. Lindsey Graham, an idiosyncratic South Carolinian and former trial lawyer himself, received $62,800 over the last decade. Graham helped peel away enough GOP support in the Senate to ensure the trust fund bill's death on Valentine's Day, 2006, according to former Senate aides.
Thornton's lawyers were especially generous to Vice President Joe Biden, one of Washington's strongest advocates for trial lawyers, contributing more than $78,000 to his campaigns from 2003 to 2008.
During President Obama and Biden's reelection campaign in 2012, Michael Thornton hosted a fundraiser for the Obama Victory Fund at his house in Cambridge where Biden was the guest of honor. Some of the biggest donors — some Thornton partners gave $20,000 — were escorted into a private room and offered the chance to be photographed with Biden, said someone who was there. Thornton records show the lawyers were reimbursed for those donations.
Vice President Joe Biden was a favorite of Michael Thornton's. Biden collected $78,000 for his campaigns from 2003 through 2008. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)
Thornton declined to speak to the Globe and the Center, but he has been vocal about his support for Biden, who once chaired the Senate Judiciary Committee and twice helped block legislation that would have established the asbestos trust fund.
"Sen. Biden has been a trial-lawyer advocate for many terms in the Senate," Thornton was quoted as saying in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch in 2008. "We represent victims, we think it's in the best interest of our clients if they have an opportunity to go to court. Sen. Biden agrees."
Once Michael Thornton's willingness to raise large amounts of money became known among lawyers and politicians, the American Association for Justice, the trial lawyers' Washington-based lobbying group, increasingly turned to the firm's lawyers for help, even for little known candidates running in states far from Boston.
"At first it happened every three or four months, and then it was sometimes three or four times each month," even though the threat of asbestos litigation reform had faded, said the former employee who requested anonymity.
As the number of fundraisers started piling up, partners began to grouse. Even though Thornton called the contributions "voluntary," partners felt pressured to give, according to the former employee. After all, Michael Thornton was the firm's lead partner with enormous sway over what the other partners were paid.
So, according to three former employees, Thornton Law Firm adopted the donation reimbursement system.
Bonus checks that were reviewed by the Globe made clear that the payments were for political donations, with notations giving the name of the politician the partner had donated to.
The Globe and the Center for Responsive Politics reviewed records covering payments to three senior partners — Thornton, Bradley and Strouss — who are among the top shareholders in the firm. Then, the Globe and the Center matched the bonuses against federal, state and local campaign records.
Campaign contribution and law firm records from 2010 through 2014 show that Thornton donated the most, and the firm gave him bonuses that matched not only his donations, but at least 33 made by his wife, Amy, who runs an investment fund. The couple donated just over $1 million between 2010 and 2014 and Thornton received $862,450 in off-setting bonuses.
Michael Thornton, through a spokesman, denied that the law firm reimbursed his wife's donations.
Bradley made donations of $340,535 and received almost as much in bonuses — $339,000 over that period, the records shows.
David Strouss gave $205,150 over the five years and received almost the same amount in bonuses — $197,150.
By donating as individuals, lawyers for the firm were able to collectively give far more to individual candidates in a single year than the firm could have donated directly under federal law.
Sen. Chuck Schumer of New York received $52,000 from Thornton partners over a 10-day period in 2013. (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP)
Over a 10-day period in 2013, for example, Thornton partners gave $52,000 to Sen. Chuck Schumer of New York, a subcommittee chairman on the Senate Judiciary Committee — 20 times as much as the $2,600 that the partnership itself could have donated. (Corporate contributions are illegal under federal law, but partnership contributions are not.)
In 2012, the lawyers gave Warren $42,200, 16 times as much as the firm could have given her directly.
Thornton lawyers also donated more than $260,000 to state and local politicians in Massachusetts from 2010 to 2014. If those donations were determined to have actually been made by the firm — because the lawyers were reimbursed — they would be illegal since political contributions from corporations or partnerships are prohibited in Massachusetts.
There's no indication that any of the politicians who received Thornton donations knew anything about the law firm's questionable reimbursement system.
The Federal Election Commission does allow partners in a law firm to donate to political campaigns, but only if the funds clearly come from the partner's own money. According to FEC rules, a partnership can contribute on behalf of its partners, but then must promptly deduct the amount of the donation from the next profit sharing payments to the partners called "partnership distributions."
That's not what Thornton did.
Brian Kelly, Thornton's outside counsel, said the firm's practice is legal because, at the end of each quarter, the firm's accountant deducts the political donations from something called the "capital account" of each partner with the firm.
The capital account is a way for the accountant to keep track of the partners' share of equity in the firm. The deductions from the capital account are on paper only, Kelly acknowledged. When partners leave the firm, they may be entitled to a payment from the capital account that Kelly says is reduced by the amount of reimbursements received.
But reimbursing partners out of their equity in the firm — as Kelly said Thornton did — is likely illegal, said Brett Kappel, a Washington D.C. lawyer who specializes in campaign finance.
"If they were legitimate contributions, they should have been deducted from their partnership distributions," Kappel said.
Senior partner Bradley abruptly resigned his position as assistant majority leader in the state House of Representatives on June 27 after the Globe had begun asking questions about his firm's business practices. His decision stunned colleagues, coming so late in the election cycle that there was no time to take his name off the November ballot.
Bradley explained at the time that Michael Thornton was retiring and he was being promoted to managing partner of his law firm. As a result, he wanted to focus on his legal work. Thornton is now chairman of the firm.
"I wouldn't have the time to do this (legislative) job the way it should be done" because of the promotion, Bradley explained to Statehouse News Service. "It's bittersweet for me."
Some campaign finance experts say they expect Thornton's reimbursement system is likely to raise suspicions among regulators and law enforcement officials alike.
"The use of the word 'bonus' for these payments combined with the fact that they so closely matched the amounts and timing of the donations would certainly capture the attention of the general counsel's office at the FEC — and given how much was involved, the public integrity section at the Department of Justice," said Kappel, the Washington campaign finance lawyer.
The Globe and the Center could not find another law firm that used a similar reimbursement system — Thornton itself stopped the reimbursements when the Globe and the Center began asking about it.
"I've been a partner at two law firms and have made many political donations," said Leonard Kesten, a partner at Brody, Hardoon, Perkins and Kesten in Boston, "but I've never seen anything like this. It seems very peculiar."
Meanwhile, in the Senate, measures to change the asbestos litigation system continue to pop up. Earlier this year, the Furthering Asbestos Claim Transparency Act passed the House, but ran into opposition from Schumer of New York, a top recipient of Thornton donations.
It died in committee.
CRP researchers Doug Weber and Alex Baumgart contributed to this story.
Content licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States License by OpenSecrets.org
NY Post: Boston 'shadow donor' scandal casts shadows on Democrats nationwide
OS: Hillary Clinton, senatorial candidates among politicians returning donations from Thornton Law (but no mention of Ige, Abercrombie, or Tsutsui)


Зарубежные книги с доставкой в регионы: Колтуши, Ульяновск, Чита и др.
Howard Lovecraft (1890 - 1937) was an American writer who achieved posthumous fame through his influential works of horror fiction. Despite the fact that he was virtually unknown before he died, today he is known as the most influential author in his genre. "The Alchemist and Other Stories" is a collection of wonderful short stories such as "The Beast in the Cave," "The Alchemist," "Polaris" and others. These stories, full of mystery and fantastic creatures, have captured the minds of readers all over the world.


SALISBURY — In a double Olympic and Sprint Vermont Sun Triathlon event on Aug. 11 at Lake Dunmore, Jason Frank of Burlington missed breaking the sprint triathlon course record (set in 2006 by Darby Thomas) by just seven seconds, winning in 59:11.
MIDDLEBURY — Middlebury and Weybridge leaders have hired a team to size up a new sidewalk that would connect Middlebury and Weybridge across the historic Pulp Mill Bridge.
MIDDLEBURY — The Addison County Regional Planning Commission has given its tentative backing to the proposed Addison Natural Gas Project, provided it meets a series of safety, environmental, economic and public outreach conditions set forth in a memorandum of understanding signed Aug. 12 by the regional planning commission and Vermont Gas.
BRANDON — A settlement has been reached regarding a proposed medical marijuana dispensary in Brandon after neighboring landowners appealed a local permitting decision to the state's Environmental Court.
The settlement clears the way for Vermont's third permitted and licensed medical marijuana facility in a 6,700-square-foot building on Lovers Lane.
MIDDLEBURY — The town of Middlebury during the 19th and early 20th centuries was known for its marble and the ability to export it via an active rail system.
Well, Middlebury's Marble Works is now a shopping center and train traffic is sparse, but the town might soon get an artistic and utilitarian reminder of its industrial and transportation heritage.
VERGENNES —Vergennes is seeking a $180,000 VTrans Bicycle and Pedestrian Program grant to extend a city sidewalk along North Main Street from the Vergennes Redemption Center to Champlain Discount Foods, a stretch of road that includes the Kennedy Brothers building, according to draft minutes from the city council's July 23 meeting.
MIDDLEBURY — The Town Hall Theater's "Young Company" is back for its third season and for the first time ever is capping its three-week acting and ensemble-building camp with not one, but two plays of a very different nature. The group on Monday, Aug. 19, will stage "Aladdin," a Disney musical, and Jean Anouilh's adaptation of "Antigone," a classical Greek drama whose eponymous heroine is the incestuous lovechild of Oedipus and his mother.
VERGENNES — The Little City kicks off its annual Vergennes Day festivities on Friday, Aug. 23, at 7 p.m. with a street dance on Main Street and in City Park. Snacks and Mexican food will be available and children can play in the Bouncy House. Admission is free but donations are accepted.


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Vaccines and Immunization
June 23-24, 2020 Osaka, Japan
Conference Dates: June 23-24, 2020
Hotel Services & Amenities
Audio/Visual Equipment Rental.
Business Center.
Business Phone Service.
Complimentary Printing Service.
Express Mail.
Meeting Rooms.
Office Rental.
Photo Copying Service.
Secretarial Service.
Telex.
Typewriter.
Video Conference.
Video Messaging.
Video Phone.
ATM.
Baggage Storage.
About City
OSAKA is the most unique city in Japan, Located at a latitude of 34'35'~46'degrees north and a longitude of 135゜23'~36'degrees east. Osaka is roughly in the middle of Japan(about 500km of the west in Tokyo) for 1400 years, Osaka has been a gathering place. The city has long conducted business not only nationwide but also with China and the Korean Peninsula, playing an important role as a centre of trade and cultural exchange. The Osaka regions continued to play an important role in Japan's development. Osaka's development into a major city began in the mid-sixteenth century, a time of great social instability and frequent internal warfare. Local feudal lords acted autonomously, unrestrained by a weak central government.
The best time to travel to Osaka in Japan The months May, June, July, September and October have nice weather with a good average temperature. On average, and the warmest month are July and Augusta lot of rain (rainy season) falls in the months: March, April, May, June, July, August, September and October. Warmest month is August. Coolest month is January. June is the wettest month. This month should be avoided if you don't like too much rain. December is the driest month
The city's transport network is very well developed. Subways make it possible to reach anywhere in the city with in about 30 minutes. Osaka is about 30 minutes by train from Kyoto and Nara with their many cultural and historical sights, and Kobe with their exotic and fashionable atmosphere. A canonical view of Japanese culture developed during the Meiji era(1868-1912)in which Kyoto and Nara were given the status of sources and centres of traditional culture, while Tokyo and Osaka became the essence of modern society.
Osaka is filled with wit and wisdom, where everyday conversations are like the banter of two "MANZAI"comedians.Today's entertainment is "RAKUGO""MANZAI" and "NEW COMEDY" .The RAKUGO:traditional storytelling in local dialect. The MANZAI:in which a pair of comedians amuse audiences with their quick-fire banter is popular all over the country. And just outside OSAKA is the world famous all-female TAKARAZUKA Revue and its gala musicals. Ever since OSAKA became known as "the Kitchen of the country", the city has been a gourmet's paradise offering the best from land and sea. Today, the snack produced in Osaka,"OKONIMIYAKI"pancakes and"TAKOYAKI"octopus balls, became famous nationally. Onto the existing culture were grafted new forms of entertainment unique brand of humour and the city's characteristic way of speaking, the OSAKA dialect. The result was a city rich in human colour.
A large crab overhead moves its legs, puffer fish banners swim with the wind a mechanical clown beats a drum. Many people take pictures in front of these famous spots.MINAMII district is the soul of food-loving OSAKA. Its neon lights and colourful fountains brighten the night, creating one of OSAKA's most famous night scenes. OSAKA traditionally renowned as a merchant city has a number of unique specialty shopping areas and commercial district. "If it's all the same, let's make it the best. "With the attitude, OSAKA people have created Japan's largest underground mall and Japan's longest shopping arcade in. KITA and MINAMI district. Osaka's port area covers a long stretch of coastline. From Hokkounorth; port, where the pleasure yachts are moored, down to the site of the Kansai International Airport is a straight-line distance of some 40 kilometres. This coastline is entirely artificial,the result of dredging and land reclamation projects that have been proceeding for over a century. Enjoying the water metropolis. Since long ago, when wooden ships plied the Yodogawa River on scheduled runs, OSAKA has had a deep relationship with water. From the river to the ocean from the ocean to the world. The developing bay area is not only a gateway to the world but a spot for the people of the city to enjoy. As new ideas catch people's fancy, the waterfront changes.
The city's transport network is very well developed. Subways make it possible to reach anywhere in the city with in about 30 minutes. OSAKA is about 30 minutes by train from KYOTO and NARA with their many cultural and historical sightsand KOBE with their exotic and fashionable atmosphere. A canonical view of Japanese culture developed during the Meiji era(1868-1912)in which KYOTO and NARA were given the status of sources and centres of traditional culture, while TOKYO and OSAKA became the essence of modern society.
OSAKA is filled with wit and wisdom,where everyday conversations are like the banter of two "MANZAI"comedians.Today's entertainment is "RAKUGO""MANZAI" and "NEW COMEDY" .The RAKUGO:traditional storytelling in local dialect. The MANZAI:in which a pair of comedians amuse audiences with their quick-fire banter is popular all over the country. And just outside OSAKA is the world famous all-female TAKARAZUKA Revue and its gala musicals. Ever since OSAKA became known as "the Kitchen of the country", the city has been a gourmet's paradise offering the best from land and sea. Today, the snack produced in Osaka,"OKONIMIYAKI"pancakes and"TAKOYAKI"octopus balls, became famous nationally. Onto the existing culture were grafted new forms of entertainment unique brand of humour and the city's characteristic way of speaking, the OSAKA dialect. The result was a city rich in human colour
A large crab overhead moves its legs,puffer fish banners swim with the wind a mechanical clown beats a drum. Many people take pictures in front of these famous spots.MINAMII district is the soul of food-loving OSAKA. Its neon lights and colourful fountains brighten the night,creating one of OSAKA's most famous night scenes. OSAKA traditionally renowned as a merchant city has a number of unique specialty shopping areas and commercial district. "If it's all the same, let's make it the best. "With the attitude, OSAKA people have created Japan's largest underground mall and Japan's longest shopping arcade in. KITA and MINAMI district. Osaka's port area covers a long stretch of coastline. From Hokkounorth; port, where the pleasure yachts are moored, down to the site of the Kansai International Airport,is a straight-line distance of some 40 kilometres. This coastline is entirely artificial,the result of dredging and land reclamation projects that have been proceeding for over a century. Enjoying the water metropolis. Since long ago when wooden ships plied the Yodogawa-River on scheduled runs, OSAKA has had a deep relationship with water. From the river to the ocean from the ocean to the world. The developing bay area is not only a gateway to the world but a spot for the people of the city to enjoy. As new ideas catch people's fancy, the waterfront changes.
The best time to travel to Osaka in Japan The months May, June, July, September and October have nice weather with a good average temperature. On average, and the warmest month are July and Augusta lot of rain (rainy season) falls in the months: March, April, May, June, July, August, September and October. Warmest month is August. Coolest month is January. June is the wettest month. This month should be avoided if you don't like too much rain. December is the driest month.
Attractions & Landmarks
Attractions & Lanadmarks are Updating Soon...
vaccinesresearch@asia-meetings.com
contact@asiapacificmeets.com
Sponsor@asiapacificmeets.com

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


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Дубна́ — река во Владимирской, Московской и Тверской областях России, правый приток Волги, впадает в Угличское водохранилище.

Название
Большинство созвучных подмосковных гидронимов — Дубна, Дубёнка, Дубачинка, Дубеченка, Дубешня, Большая Дубна, Малая Дубна — имеют славянское происхождение и связаны с названием дерева дуб по аналогии с похожими, образованными от названий различных деревьев — Берёзовка, Ольховка, Сосновка, Елинка, Липовка. Однако в случае с волжской Дубной, ввиду отсутствия дубовых лесов и отдельно растущих деревьев по берегам реки, название имеет балтийское происхождение и восходит к балтским племенам, заселявшим север Московской области в I тысячелетии до нашей эры ещё до того, как на эти земли пришли финно-угры и славяне. В балтских языках термин dubus имеет значение «глубокий», «глубокая река», протекающая в долине. Основой гидронима могли также послужить литовские слова dube — «долина», dubuma — «впадина», dubina — «углубление». В Литве также есть река Дубиса, а в Латвии — Дубна.

Физико-географическая характеристика

Длина реки составляет 167 км, из которых 137 км в пределах Московской области, площадь водосборного бассейна — 5350 км², по этим характеристикам Дубна занимает соответственно 29-е и 25-е место среди волжских притоков.

Течёт на запад-северо-запад по Верхневолжской низменности в границах Александровского района Владимирской области, Сергиево-Посадского и Талдомского районов, а также городского округа Дубна Московской области; короткий приустьевой отрезок лежит на территории Кимрского района Тверской области.

Истоки реки находятся на склонах Клинско-Дмитровской гряды, недалеко от деревни Зезевитово, севернее станции Арсаки Ярославского направления Московской железной дороги. В верховье течёт в крутых, изрезанных устьями притоков берегах. Затем долина становится широкой, пойма сильно заболочена, низкорослые березняки в ней чередуются с ольховыми топями. После впадения Вели долина менее заболоченная, ниже устья Сестры Дубна уже представляет собой широкую и многоводную реку. Ширина — от 40 до 60 м, глубина — от 2 до 4 м, скорость течения — 0,3—0,5 м/с. Впадает в Угличское водохранилище (нижнее течение реки находится в зоне его подпора) в 2962 км от устья Волги, восточнее города Дубны, в 9 км ниже плотины Иваньковской ГЭС, высота устья — 113,3 м над уровнем моря. Приустьевой участок протяжённостью 6 км входит в перечень внутренних водных путей России.

В 1930-е годы с целью осушения поймы Дубны был спрямлён участок её русла длиной 57,5 км в верхнем и среднем течении. Также были спрямлены русла притоков — Нушполки, Сулоти и Кубжи, создан Веле-Дубнинский канал для отведения вод реки Вели ниже по течению Дубны, образована сеть регулирующих каналов. Все эти меры оказали существенное влияние на гидрологический режим реки.

Питание реки происходит преимущественно за счёт талых вод. Период половодья выпадает на начало или середину апреля, от воды пойма реки освобождается в конце мая — июне, или в середине июля, если этот процесс сопровождается дождевыми паводками. Летне-осенние паводки приходятся на два первых осенних месяца. Ледяной покров образуется в ноябре, вскрывается река в марте-апреле. Средний расход воды — 11 м³/с. Самыми крупными из основных  Дубны являются Сестра и Веля:

 11 км: река Сестра (лв)
 26 км: руч. Куйминка (пр)
 27 км: река Куновка (лв)
 60 км: река Якоть (лв)
 61 км: река Шибовка (лв)
 63 км: река Веля (лв)
 74 км: река Шибахта (лв)
 78 км: река Корешовка (лв)
 93 км: река Кубжа (лв)
 105 км: река Сулать (пр)
 113 км: река Вытравка (лв)
 120 км: река Гусаренка (лв)
 130 км: река Кунья (лв)
 144 км: река Рассоловка (лв)

По данным государственного водного реестра России Дубна относится к Верхневолжскому бассейновому округу. Речной бассейн реки — (Верхняя) Волга до Куйбышевского водохранилища (без бассейна Оки), речной подбассейн реки — бассейны притоков (Верхней) Волги до Рыбинского водохранилища, водохозяйственный участок реки — Волга от Иваньковского гидроузла до Угличского гидроузла (Угличское водохранилище).

Использование

По берегам реки расположено множество населённых пунктов, крупнейшие из которых город Дубна  и рабочий посёлок Вербилки . Из-за высокой антропогенной нагрузки, связанной с хозяйственно-бытовой и промышленной деятельностью, воды реки по классу качества относятся к категории «грязных», негативное влияние на них оказывают жилищно-коммунальное хозяйство и предприятия двух вышеупомянутых населённых пунктов, а также города Клина, расположенного на реке Сестре — главном притоке Дубны.

Река используется водными туристами как для двухдневных походов выходного дня от Вербилок до Дубны, так и для более длительных путешествий сроком от 4 до 6 дней, при которых сплав начинается от деревни Ченцы или села Константиново, связанных автобусным сообщением с Сергиевым Посадом. Наибольший интерес для пеших туристов представляют верховья до села Муханово и незначительный участок в среднем течении. Ихтиофауна водоёма представлена плотвой, лещом, щукой, окунем, голавлём, ельцом, язём и другими видами рыб.

См. также
 Список рек Московской области

Примечания

Литература

Притоки Волги, впадающие в Угличское водохранилище
Реки Александровского района Владимирской области
Реки Сергиево-Посадского района
Реки Талдомского района
Реки Московской области
Реки Кимрского района

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


text:
<?php declare(strict_types=1);

namespace Bartlett\CompatInfoDb\Domain\Factory;

use Exception;
use ReflectionClassConstant;
use function constant;
use function dechex;
use function defined;
use function function_exists;
use function method_exists;
use function ord;
use function phpversion;
use function preg_match;
use function preg_replace;
use function preg_replace_callback;
use function sprintf;
use function str_split;
use function strlen;
use function vsprintf;

/**
 * curl
 * @link https://www.php.net/manual/en/book.curl
 * @link https://curl.haxx.se/
 *
 * iconv
 * @link https://www.php.net/manual/en/book.iconv.php
 * @link http://www.gnu.org/software/libiconv/
 *
 * intl
 * @link https://www.php.net/manual/en/book.intl.php
 * @link http://site.icu-project.org/
 *
 * imagick
 * @link https://www.php.net/manual/en/book.imagick.php
 * @link http://www.imagemagick.org/
 *
 * libmemcached
 * @link https://www.php.net/manual/en/book.memcached.php
 * @link https://libmemcached.org/
 *
 * libxml
 * @link https://www.php.net/manual/en/book.libxml.php
 * @link http://www.xmlsoft.org/
 *
 * openssl
 * @link https://www.php.net/manual/en/book.openssl.php
 * @link https://www.openssl.org/
 * @link https://www.libressl.org/
 *
 * pcre
 * @link https://www.php.net/manual/en/book.pcre
 *
 * sqlite3
 * @link https://www.php.net/manual/en/book.sqlite3.php
 * @link https://sqlite.org/
 *
 * xsl
 * @link https://www.php.net/manual/en/book.xsl.php
 * @link https://www.php.net/manual/en/book.libxml.php
 *
 * zip
 * @link https://www.php.net/manual/en/book.zip.php
 * @link https://libzip.org/
 *
 * @since Release 3.0.0
 * @author Laurent Laville
 */
trait LibraryVersionProviderTrait
{
    private function getPrettyVersion(string $name): string
    {
        $versionText = '';

        switch ($name) {
            case 'libcurl':
                if (function_exists('curl_version')) {
                    $meta = curl_version();
                    $versionText = $meta['version'];
                }
                break;
            case 'enchant':
                if ($constant = $this->constantExists('LIBENCHANT_VERSION')) {
                    $versionText = $constant;
                }
                break;
            case 'iconv':
                $versionText = $this->constantExists('ICONV_VERSION');
                break;
            case 'intl':
            case 'ICU':
                if ($constant = $this->constantExists('INTL_ICU_VERSION')) {
                    $versionText = $constant;
                }
                break;
            case 'imagick':
                if (method_exists('Imagick', 'getVersion')) {
                    $meta = \Imagick::getVersion();
                    preg_match('/^ImageMagick ([\d.]+)(?:-(\d+))?/', $meta['versionString'], $matches);
                    if (isset($matches[2])) {
                        $versionText = "{$matches[1]}.{$matches[2]}";
                    } else {
                        $versionText = $matches[1];
                    }
                }
                break;
            case 'libmemcached':
                if ($constant = $this->constantExists('LIBMEMCACHED_VERSION_HEX', 'Memcached')) {
                    // since release 2.2.0b1
                    // @link https://github.com/php-memcached-dev/php-memcached/commit/a63c8f08fdae80a6d9c4050eb3b126c1e5b05fe7
                    $constant = sprintf('%09s', dechex($constant));
                    $parts = str_split($constant, 3);
                    $versionText = vsprintf('%d.%d.%d', $parts);
                }
                break;
            case 'libxml':
                if ($constant = $this->constantExists('LIBXML_DOTTED_VERSION')) {
                    $versionText = $constant;
                }
                break;
            case 'openssl':
                if ($constant = $this->constantExists('OPENSSL_VERSION_TEXT')) {
                    $versionText = preg_replace_callback('{^(?:OpenSSL|LibreSSL)?\s*([0-9.]+)([a-z]*).*}i', function ($match) {
                        if (empty($match[2])) {
                            return $match[1];
                        }

                        // OpenSSL versions add another letter when they reach Z.
                        // e.g. OpenSSL 0.9.8zh 3 Dec 2015
                        if (!preg_match('{^z*[a-z]$}', $match[2])) {
                            // 0.9.8abc is garbage
                            return '0';
                        }

                        $len = strlen($match[2]);
                        $patchVersion = ($len - 1) * 26; // All Z
                        $patchVersion += ord($match[2][$len - 1]) - 96;
                        return $match[1] . '.' . $patchVersion;
                    }, $constant);
                }
                break;
            case 'pcre':
                if ($constant = $this->constantExists('PCRE_VERSION')) {
                    $versionText = preg_replace('{^(\S+).*}', '$1', $constant);
                }
                break;
            case 'sqlite3':
                if (method_exists('sqlite3', 'version')) {
                    $meta = \SQLite3::version();
                    $versionText = $meta['versionString'];
                }
                break;
            case 'xsl':
                if ($constant = $this->constantExists('LIBXSLT_DOTTED_VERSION')) {
                    $versionText = $constant;
                }
                break;
            case 'libzip':
                if ($constant = $this->constantExists('LIBZIP_VERSION', 'ZipArchive')) {
                    $versionText = $constant;
                } else {
                    $versionText = phpversion('zip');
                }
                break;
            case 'librdkafka':
                if ($constant = $this->constantExists('RD_KAFKA_VERSION')) {
                    // @see https://github.com/arnaud-lb/php-rdkafka/issues/232
                    $major = (RD_KAFKA_VERSION & 0xFF000000) >> 24;
                    $minor = (RD_KAFKA_VERSION & 0x00FF0000) >> 16;
                    $patch = (RD_KAFKA_VERSION & 0x0000FF00) >> 8;
                    $versionText = sprintf('%d.%d.%d', $major, $minor, $patch);
                }
                break;
        }

        return $versionText;
    }

    /**
     * Checks if the constant or class constant exists, and return its value.
     *
     * @param string $name
     * @param string|null $class
     * @return mixed
     */
    private function constantExists(string $name, ?string $class = null)
    {
        if (null === $class) {
            return defined($name) ? constant($name) : null;
        }

        try {
            return (new ReflectionClassConstant($class, $name))->getValue();
        } catch (Exception $e) {
            return null;
        }
    }
}

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


Looking through old drafts I found this, and it made me remember what I long for, – that place of healing.
I created this blog not fully knowing what I wanted it to be. I just knew I needed healing. I yearned to open up, to express myself. I would sometimes have words run through my mind, images, scenes from a story not yet written, and I didn't have a place for them.
I wanted to share my heart with people, and at the same time was terrified to do so.
My throat feels tight sometimes, as though there's something stuck in it, stopping me from speaking. My voice comes out weak when I share something deeply meaningful to me.
I told a friend that I have felt like a ghost of my true self for years. I've been waiting for the time when I'd feel like a complete person again. I've been numb with grief for a long time, though I thought I was doing just fine. I was not in touch with what had happened.
I'm opening up now. I'm strong enough to feel again. I hope this blog will help me find my voice. I would love to be able to help other people do the same.
I've always longed for a sanctuary, a place of healing. I never liked hospitals. If I could choose I would go to a temple of healing, a place of rest for weary souls. There would be the scent of flowers, and soft singing, perhaps the sound of silver bells. People would be given what they needed most.
If it was possible, I would create such a place online.
I want to find my way back to myself, so that I may remember who I am. Honor the silent call within me, and see where it leads me.
I want to write whatever comes, without worrying if its good of bad, or feel that I need to prove something, say something wise or beautiful. I just want to string words together because it feels like healing, feels like a release. I'm so good at silencing myself, but it creates pain; – thoughts, feelings staying locked in my body, going deeper until I ache.
I will write what is true, in the moment.
I feel something needs to be expressed, come out, be born, or reborn as I walk this road back to myself, to who I really am.
I don't want to miss this moment, when the forest turns to gold, as the sun sets behind the mountain. I rush a bit to prepare my rose tea, and then settle by the window, to take in the first of the evening, the fading of light into dark. I love those moments of in-between, and the deepening of magic that happens at twilight.
I bought myself flowers, tulips, red and purple, like a splash of color next to my couch. And then I went a little crazy and bought roses also, a soft pink, to have in my kitchen. I want to surround myself with flowers, with beauty. It feels like something in me heals a little whenever I look at them, my soul sighs and relaxes a little. I smile.
It feels very decadent to have so many flowers in our small apartment. I even put tulips in the bathroom, and I feel happy whenever I see them.
I didn't buy chocolate though. Perhaps I can bring sweetness into my life through beauty, thought tea, books and well….my dandelion chocolate tea.
I'm trying to listen to my body more. I want to take care of myself, conserve my energy so I can do more, walks in the forest more, draw, write. Spring brings a freshness to things, news possibilities.
I've been hearing the birds lately, first in the morning, as I sit in the half light, and whenever I'm quiet enough to listen. Their song feels especially sweet after a long winter of darkness and silence. It's the song of innocence, and new things to come.
A series of bleak days has arrived. Each full of rain and quiet trees, and a sky that is a constant white, sometimes shifting to grey, but a light grey, as though full of snow waiting to fall. But the temperature is mild, and it continues to rain. I don't mind much. I relax, feeling no pressure to go outside, which is good, because I have little energy these days. I want to sit quietly and reflect, rest a bit, and not question and struggle with the fact that I am tired. It is what it is.
I feel happier now, filled with a quiet glow that I want to explore. Like a secret joy waiting to come out, waiting to know that it's safe. Waiting to see if it can trust again. I feel like a child that has been hit, and is now afraid to smile, to laugh and run through the meadow full of wildflowers. Something bad might happen. She might do something wrong and make God angry.
I feel the divine is doing everything they can to show me I'm loved, that I'm safe, protected. But they need to do it in small quiet ways to not overwhelm me, to not make me back away in fear. Sometimes I feel the whole sky is made of love, and I wonder if I'm imagining it. Can I trust what I feel? Can I trust myself? Can I let go and trust the divine will catch me, that my Divine Mother is always right beside me? What if I keep making mistakes and she grows tired and leaves?
But then, would a perfect mother ever leave her child?
I feel we're more loved than we can even imagine, that to feel the immensity of it it would shatter us into a million specks of light.
Do you feel that you're safe, that you're being looked after?
Those words made me think, made me see my life in review. I have always loved to sit somewhere quiet and reflect, but I never considered that it actually meant something, that I could use it in some way. I had always considered it a bit shameful, bordering on laziness, and I sensed a need to almost do it in secret. I loved moments of being alone.
And now I remember moments of climbing a pile of chopped wood, covered with plastic and flat stones. I would sit there in the evening, silent, thinking, and most of all feeling. I could see the sun, the drifting clouds, the sky. I felt I was somehow close to God like this, that I could almost sense the unseen. I loved to seek out the hidden, the sacred, the divine. In the stillness I could feel something beautiful, and I wanted more of it.
I loved lying on my back in the grass, watching the clouds. In church I could never remember what the minister said, but I do remember the feeling of reverence, of the sun coming through painted glass windows.
Now I see this is what I love doing the most, and I wish I had better words to describe the feeling to comes from just looking at things, from being present, feeling the unseen, but perhaps you already know.
For some time now my mantras has been beauty and magic, and thats what feeds my spirit. And always at the heart is the divine, and love, love for the divine.
I want to give myself more of what really fills me up, even as it brings up resistance and guilt. I would just be so so wonderful to be in that space more often, to feel, reflect, be here, create.
I've been going through my draft folder again. A lot of my thoughts stay stuck there, because I'm afraid to reveal them. I write them down, and then I think them silly somehow, and never click the publish button. But it makes me a little sad not to honor what I've written, to keep silencing myself, so here is a post that I wrote sometime in the fall.
I went outside just as it started raining, hearing the drops tap against my winter coat, looking up at the grey and white sky, happy it wasn't too cold.
The next moment it broke through again, and the grass around me glittered with rain drops. The sky is so interesting on days like this, when there is wind in the trees, clouds always drifting, changing, from dark to white, the gold of the sun sometimes coming through.
I walked, words swirling in my mind and heart. This time they came and I wanted to write them down, other times they come, but I feel too tired to do anything but to let them pass through me, hoping I will remember them when I'm a bit more rested. When my soul doesn't feel quite as worn and my body not as heavy.
Ever since I first watched the Fellowship of the Ring, Bilbos words have stuck with me.
It described how I felt then, and it describes how I feel now, even after all this time. I try to be so much more than I am, now, when it's not yet time. I still feel like I'm waiting for myself, like I'm walking a long road, gathering pieces of my soul along the way, slowly slowly remembering.
I need to be quiet and listen. Stand by the ocean and hear it speak to me. Hear the wind in the trees, and buy myself flowers. I abandoned myself a long time ago, and I forgot who I was. If I listen I will find myself again, bit by bit, and I need to learn to be kind, to not hate and loathe, but to listen and understand, and to love myself the way I wish to love others.
I went for a walk, and found a new place to sit in the sunlight.
I heard the sound of water, gentle waves against rocks as I left my apartment. From my spot on the hill, I can see the lake, glittering like gold and silver. A small stream trickles past behind me, between the moss, and birch trees.
Everything looks bare and naked, brown. There are no flowers yet, no leaves, but the days are brighter, gentler, and the birds are happy, singing, dancing between the branches. I hear them at night as well now, which I cant remember doing in winter.
It feels like the stage in-between winter and spring, death and rebirth. The earth feels full of promise, so many gifts waiting to spring forth after a long period of rest, of sleep.
I feel those forces inside of me as well, something waiting to be born, brought forth, created. I feel a need to be a still and listen, and allow the stream to trickle the way it needs to, – let whatever needs to happen happen. And to trust that it's ok. I'm not a bad person for resting, for listening, for giving myself what I need.
I feel very tired. I'm reminded to be gentle, to take care of my body, my heart, my soul, to allow joy to enter. To learn to receive generously, to not be afraid of love.
I'm so afraid too much will be asked of me, and sometimes I still get very tired. I get tired because there is such a battle going inside of me, and I have yet to learn to truly let go, to trust in life and the divine. To trust that I'm loved and looked after even as I make mistakes. That there is no time limit, no rush, no need to force thing and be filled with anxiety. That it's ok to rest.
As the sun is about to set behind the mountain, I stop what I'm doing, and just look out the window, at the lengthening of shadows, the forest gleaming like gold in contrast.
I step outside and hear the sound of water, the restless lake, the tiny stream trickling by. I sit on the stairs for a moment, with my rose tea, but its still so cold, and the wind makes my head hurt. Bu oh what a beautiful day, with its deep blue sky and bright sunlight. I yearn for spring with my whole body, loving the light and the longer days. Everything is coming out of darkness; – something in in the air changes, things feel lighter. People are smiling.
I love Easter because life is more quiet, slow. People have the week off and are relaxing in the mountain, or at home, or taking their boat out on the lake. Its like the whole country is sighing with relief now that the winter has passed, and people are outside, worshipping the sun.
On my walk the other day, I looked into a garden and saw a cluster of snow drops. It made my heart ache a little, because I wished I could lie down on the grass next them. They are my favorite flowers of spring, the first flower they say, as a gift from God, for lending their color to the snow.
I feel I'm glimpsing another world when I see them, a place of delicate beauty and purity, of newly fallen snow.
I can imagine they have a sound, like chimes, sweet and silver, like the music of winter, of frozen rain on branches, on water, rocks, the ground.
As I child I loved looking at them in the garden, as well as the crocuses, – purple and yellow happiness among the muted grey and brown of a dark season passed.
What are you favorite signs of spring, or autumn?


All the football games you can't find anywhere else! Below you will find a list of discussions in the Other Football Games forums at the Operation Sports Forums.
Discuss All Pro Football 2K here!
Discuss ESPN NFL 2K5 here!
Discuss EA Sports NFL Head Coach here!
Desktop Dynasties Football almost ready to leave Early Access!
Axis Football 2018 Live on Steam!


text:
The New Galaxy Note 9 Has An Even Bigger Screen — And Battery
Samsung swears the batteries are safe now.
by Nicole Nguyen
Posted on August 9, 2018, 3:31 pm
Today, Samsung unveiled the latest version of its biggest smartphone offering: the Galaxy Note 9.
Samsung also announced that the ridiculously popular mobile game Fortnite will launch for Android exclusively on Samsung devices (Galaxy S7 and newer) on Aug. 9.
The game, which was previously only available on iOS, will be available on non-Samsung devices after Aug. 12.
The Note 9 doesn't look much different from last year's version. The display is slightly larger — at 6.4 inches diagonally versus the Note 8's 6.3 inches. The phone comes in two hues — ocean blue and lavender purple — with new, bright, contrasting yellow-colored pens whose default ink matches its colors. Oh, and it costs $1,000.
Other updates are under the Note 9's hood. The S Pen has new Bluetooth capabilities, allowing the stylus to work as a remote control for the phone. The phone also comes with double the default storage, has a larger battery, and includes an "intelligent" camera that can automatically detect and adjust its settings for various scenes.
The Note 9's pen is a little different from past Note styluses. It now has Bluetooth and can control the phone from a distance, making it work like a remote. Previous S Pens were merely digitizers that worked like a more precise version of your finger, with a few other tricks (like internal sensors that could tell when the pen was hovering over the phone's screen).
The Note 9 pen's button can be customized for a variety of applications, including camera, gallery, and Chrome. For example, you can set the button to open the camera with a long press and switch between selfie and normal view with a double-tap. The S Pen also needs to be charged in the phone. Samsung said it takes under a minute.
A new intelligent camera option on board the Note 9 can understand scenes and adjust the white balance, brightness, and color settings on the lens automatically. The camera's software recognizes 20 different categories, including food, wildlife, sunsets, and street scenes.
For the first time ever, the phone has a 4,000 mAh battery, the largest of any Samsung phone ever. (The similarly sized Galaxy 9+ that came out earlier in the year has a 3,500 mAh battery, while the previous Note 8 model has a 3,300 mAh battery.) Samsung won't say exactly how many hours the battery will last, but the company has said that you should expect "all-day performance."
The battery upgrade comes as a surprise. In 2016, Samsung was forced to discontinue the Note 7, which shipped with faulty, exploding 3,500 mAh batteries. The following model, last year's Note 8, had a smaller battery, which poses less of an explosion risk compared with a higher-capacity battery. But the company seems confident its batteries are safe. A Samsung spokesperson stressed that all of its batteries are subjected to an eight-point battery safety check that includes extreme testing and X-ray inspection, plus additional testing by a third-party company, UL.
There are two Note 9 phones to choose from: a 128GB model with 6GB of RAM or a 512GB model with 8GB of RAM. If you need more storage, the Note 9 also has a slot for a micro SD card, up to an additional 512GB.
While most Samsung device owners prefer the slightly smaller Galaxy phone line, this device is, er, noteworthy because Samsung typically introduces new camera technology in the Note that eventually makes its way to the Galaxy the following spring. Last year, that feature was the Note 8 camera's dual lens — one wide-angle (read: normal) lens and one telephoto lens (for close-ups). Later, the Galaxy S9+ launched with the same dual lens (while the smaller Galaxy S9, unfortunately, still had only one lens). This year's upgrade appears to be the intelligent camera software, so take note, Galaxy users.
Pre-orders begin on Aug. 10 at Samsung.com and arrive in stores (and ship) on Aug. 24. The 128GB Note 9 will be sold at AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile, US Cellular, Verizon, and Xfinity for $999.99, while the 512GB model is available in select AT&T, T-Mobile, Verizon, and US Cellular retail locations, as well as online at Samsung.com for $1,249.99.
Aug. 09, 2018, at 17:24 PM
Samsung released the Galaxy 9+ in March 2018. An earlier version of this post misstated that date.
Contact Nicole Nguyen at nicole.nguyen@buzzfeed.com.


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Ok, so my friend Cindy Knight -Shrader introduced me to this a few days ago. After Googling it I found it absolutely necessary to make a pot.
I guess it comes from Olive Garden, but since we haven't been there in quite some time, I had no clue of how it should taste. If theirs is anything like this, I will be making a trip there VERY soon.
Thanks Cindy, for the inspiration!
Place onions, potatoes, and garlic in pot.
Hi Kim, your soup look good and sound good. I like soups that are filling with a lot of goodies as yours. I would love to hear the comparison of what you think of of the Olive Garden soup compare to yours once you have time to go there.
Why thank you :) I would love to be able to compare, hopefully soon. Thanks for visiting!
easy and delicious! that's my type of soup!
This is a favorite! Cindy shared her recipe with me a couple years ago and I fell in love. I had the soup at Olive Garden since then, and it's very close! I so need to make it again.


The Zahara Hamper Set is a decorative solution for quick clean up. The cotton percale zebra print body and stripe and floral print outer flap easily attaches to the collapsible pine wood frame. The fashionable color palette of black, white, paradise pink and electric lime make this hamper suitable for any room of the house. Machine washable inner mesh liner is removable making the transport of laundry effortless. Measures 15 in x 27 in x 15 in.


This is a placeholder page for Carl Danesi, which means this person is not currently on this site. We do suggest using the tools below to find Carl Danesi.
You are visiting the placeholder page for Carl Danesi. This page is here because someone used our placeholder utility to look for Carl Danesi. We created this page automatically in hopes Carl Danesi would find it. If you are not Carl Danesi, but are an alumni of Wellington High School Wellington, OH, register on this site for free now.


text:
Goleń – element anatomiczny odnóża lub kończyny położony przed stopą lub piętką, a za udem lub rzepką.

Stawonogi
U stawonogów goleń jest formą karpopoditu i wchodzi w skład telopoditu.

Pajęczaki
U pajęczaków goleń (łac. tibia) to piąty segment odnóży położony pomiędzy rzepką (patella) a nadstopiem (metatarsus).

Kikutnice
U kikutnic goleń znajduje się między rzepką (patella) a stopą (tarsus).

Wije
U wijów goleń leży między udem (femora) a stopą (tarsus).

Owady
U owadów goleń (łac. tibia) to czwarty segment odnóży położony pomiędzy udem (femur) i stopą (tarsus). Typowa goleń owada to smukły segment, nieco tylko krótszy od uda lub uda z krętarzem włącznie. Proksymalna jej część formuje mniej lub bardziej wyraźną główkę zgiętą ku udu.

Goleń może być zlana ze stopą, tworząc stopogoleń (tibiotarsus).

Mięśnie goleni mają duże znaczenie u prostoskrzydłych, u których zajmują prawie całą jamę uda i wytwarzają siłę potrzebną do oddania skoku.

Kręgowce
Goleń lub podudzie (łac. tibia) to odcinek kończyny miednicznej między stawem skokowym i kolanem. U ssaków szkielet goleni stanowi kość piszczelowa i kość strzałkowa. Przy zgiętym stawie kolanowym może obracać się w bok bądź do wewnątrz dzięki łąkotkom.

Przypisy

Anatomia odnóża
Anatomia kręgowców
Anatomia kończyny dolnej
Okolice ciała

br:Gar
fa:ساق (پا)


Lovely wild iris is in bloom around here. A more delicate and subtle version of the big, showy domesticated versions. I always feel like I've stumbled on a special place when I find one, but here is a whole group just west of Redding.


A three bedroom semi-detached house, situated 1.1 miles to taplow station, 0.7 miles to lent rise school. large garden. scope to extend s.t.t.p. no onward chain.
An extended three-bedroom end of terrace house benefitting from a large corner plot with gardens extending to three sides.


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Garner's Usage Tip of the Day: Miscellaneous Entries.
Miscellaneous Entries. v.; vs. Both are acceptable abbreviations of "versus," but they differ in application: "vs." is more common except in names of law cases, in which "v." is the accepted abbreviation. vagina; vulva. The term "vagina" is now frequently used to denote not just the internal organ (the strict meaning), but also the external female genitals (the "vulva," strictly speaking). The result is that "vulva" is falling into disuse, except in medical contexts. Valentine's Day; *Valentine Day; *Valentines Day. Although the formal name is "St. Valentine's Day," this is rarely encountered. The standard term today is "Valentine's Day." Avoid the two variant forms. valet is pronounced /VAL-it/ or /VAL-ay/ as a noun, or /va-LAY/ as an adjective. The first was historically considered best, primarily in the sense "a gentleman's personal attendant who looks after his clothes etc." (Concise Oxford Dictionary). But this archaic sense and its "preferred" usage is almost never heard, and even /VAL-ay/ is rare for the noun. The standard American English pronunciation today for the noun is /va-LAY/. But the most common American usage of the word is as an adjective, usually in reference to a parking attendant at a hotel or restaurant, where the accent is on the first syllable. In short, the word has been de-anglicized in American English over the 20th century, while British English continues with /VAL-it/. vapid (= flat, dull, and intellectually barren) makes "vapidity," preferably not *"vapidness" (which is only one-tenth as common in print). E.g.: "Whatever was once unique and involving about its music has been usurped by synth-pop vapidness [read 'vapidity']." Greg Kot, "Faithful Followers," Chicago Trib., 23 Apr. 1995, at C7. The adjective is pronounced /VAP-id/, the noun /va-PiD-i-tee/–preferably not with a long /ay/ in the first syllable. *Invariably inferior form. For information about the Language-Change Index click here. ————————————— Quotation of the Day: "Distortion of the observation or making up what you haven't observed is a violation of the rules a journalist must live by." George Kennedy et al., The Writing Book 13 (1984). —————————————


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Kurtenbach: Is offensive coordinator Todd…
Kurtenbach: Is offensive coordinator Todd Downing the Raiders' solution or problem?
Oakland Raiders offensive coordinator Todd Downing speaks to the media after organized team activities at their headquarters in Alameda, Calif., on Tuesday, May 30, 2017. (Jane Tyska/Bay Area News Group)
By Dieter Kurtenbach | dkurtenbach@bayareanewsgroup.com | Bay Area News Group
PUBLISHED: October 7, 2017 at 3:52 p.m. | UPDATED: October 8, 2017 at 5:42 a.m.
Raiders' offensive coordinator Todd Downing was supposed to be the chosen one — the young, talented quarterback guru who was going to take this Raiders' offensive attack to the next level.
He might be that, but four games into the season, Downing is not living up to his promise.
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The Raiders' Week 5 matchup with the Baltimore Ravens presents them with serious challenges. After two weeks of scuffling and losing, the Raiders need a positive offensive performance — the kind they put up in the first two weeks of the season, albeit against mediocre (or just straight-up bad) defenses — and they'll (probably) have to do it without starting quarterback Derek Carr.
If Downing is the offensive coordinator the Raiders believe he is, he needs to prove it on Sunday.
Don't forget, the Raiders' offense was good last year.
Sixth in the NFL in yards and seventh in points good.
Sports columnist analyzes the biggest stories in Bay Area sports every weekday morning with his trademark irreverence and wit on the Daily Dieter podcast. Subscribe on iTunes.
But it wasn't good enough for then-offensive coordinator Bill Musgrave to keep his job.
And Downing, despite being Musgrave's top staffer, was viewed as the antidote to Musgraveitis.
Now, the Raiders also saw other NFL teams' interest in Downing and were intimately aware of his close relationship with Carr, who Oakland made the NFL's most expensive player in June. The Raiders did not want to lose Downing to another team, so the move was made: Musgrave was out and Downing would slide up a spot on the depth chart, from quarterbacks coach to offensive coordinator.
It was hard to question the decision at the time — particularly after a season where Raiders head coach Jack Del Rio didn't hide his frustrations with Musgrave's game calling — but it can be scrutinized now.
Like our Oakland Raiders Facebook page for more Raiders news, commentary, and conversation.
The Raiders spent eight months selling Downing as the man who would take a good Oakland offense and make it great.
We're still looking for that improvement.
Oakland Raiders offensive coordinator Todd Downing, left, talks with quarterback Derek Carr (4) before an NFL football game against the New York Jets in Oakland, Calif., Sunday, Sept. 17, 2017. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)
After back-to-back games where the Raiders' offense looked nothing like the top-10 unit it was last year — the performances against Washington and Denver were anemic at best — Downing's play calling and game preparation is facing scrutiny.
It's not unfair, either — the criticisms coincide with the expectations of the 37-year-old offensive coordinator.
The Raiders were supposed to have a more aggressive game plan under Downing, pushing the ball downfield — particularly up the seams — and Carr, with one of the best offensive lines in football in front of him, was supposed to turn into the deep-ball passer he only teased in the first three years of his career.
In other words, Downing, based on his close relationship with Carr, was supposed to take the dink-and-dunk quarterback we saw under Musgrave and turn him into one of the NFL's best quarterbacks — a quarterback worth $125 million over five years.
But the same problems that cost Musgrave his job have shown up in the last two weeks: Carr was rushing plays — no matter if there was or wasn't pass-rush pressure, the Raiders weren't establishing the running game to set-up play action, and the team wasn't consistently pushing the ball downfield like Downing promised they would.
Perhaps Musgrave wasn't the problem.
We do know this: a quarter of the way through the season, Downing hasn't proven himself to be the solution.
With Carr (again, presumably) out Sunday, all eyes will be on Downing. The Week 5 matchup with Baltimore is a big game — not a season-maker or -breaker, mind you, but a big one nonetheless. A 2-3 record with two divisional games in five days looming is a position to avoid.
And with backup quarterback EJ Manuel at the helm of the Raiders' offense, the Ravens are going to dare Downing to throw every down Sunday by presenting him with eight and nine-man boxes, against which it will be difficult to establish the run game.
The game rides on Manuel's performance, which means it rides on Downing's.
Oakland Raiders offensive coordinator Todd Downing during the team's organized team activity at its NFL football training facility Tuesday, June 6, 2017, in Alameda, Calif. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)
Did Downing, who treated Manuel as a personal project in Training Camp (which might be why Manuel made the team despite a sub-par preseason), resurrect the former first-round pick's career, or will the bust who hasn't won a start since September 2014 show up Sunday?
More importantly, can Downing call a game that will keep Baltimore guessing?
If he didn't and he can't, questions will continue to be asked about "TD" — even if it's unfair to judge someone who has to start Manuel at quarterback.
But if Downing can manufacture an offensive performance worthy of a win with a backup quarterback like Manuel at the helm (think three or four touchdowns), it'd be so impressive it'd stop all the conversations about the offensive coordinator and his promotion. (And put the onus for the Raiders' aforementioned struggles solely onto Carr.)
One game might not make or break the Raiders' season, but when it comes to the Raiders' OC, it could justify everything.
Derek Carr
Dieter Kurtenbach | Sports Columnist
Sports columnist Dieter Kurtenbach analyzes the amazing and roasts the absurd in the world of sports for the Bay Area News Group.
dkurtenbach@bayareanewsgroup.com
Follow Dieter Kurtenbach	@dieter
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Is it a help or a hindrance for an amateur painter to live amongst old Masters? Eat meals watched over by a life-size Romney, the portrait of one's great-grandfather-in-law to boot?
Relaxing in the drawing room under the eyes of half a dozen other famous ancestors' portraits, including Topham Beauclerk – Dr. Johnson's friend; and Charles II and Nell Gwynne 'who started the family'?
Suzanne St. Albans in the dining room of her Chelsea house.
Right, the Duke of Monmouth. Left, Earl and Countess of Oxford. Both by Lely.
Suzanne, Duchess of St. Albans, whose home contains a collection of masterpieces, says 'it's a help if you keep calm and don't despair; if you use the paintings for study'. She has spent hours scrutinising the lace in King Charles's ruffle, the waves in a Thomas Whitcombe seascape, and the composition and brush strokes of a Tiepolo – which hangs half-way up the stairs.
The landscapes, street scenes, houses and gardens which the Duchess now paints in this country probably owe their most translucent tones to the memories of Vence-light. 'I'm a representational, academic painter. I paint only what I see, as I see it. But I think I see colours and light in a different way from born Londoners – although I adore the haze-grey English light as much now as the Vence-blue sky'.
The Duchess is small, casually elegant, unassuming and friendly. She frequently smiles as though she were sharing a private joke with herself. She says she is 'from an ordinary middle-class French family'. But her life hasn't been ordinary at all. In 1940, when she was 19, Suzanne Fesq, as she was then, escaped to England and was soon asked to work in the Foreign Office's Political Intelligence Department.; when she was still in her early twenties she was sent to Italy and the Middle East 'for quite interesting work'. Soon after the war, working in Austria, she met and married the 13th Duke of St. Albans, Hereditary Grand Falconer of England – and a colonel in the Intelligence Corps.
The Duke and Duchess now live in one of those narrow, elegant early 19th century terrace-houses in Chelsea. Two of their four children (17 to 21) are still at home, so there is no fair-sized room to spare as a proper studio.
She does her painting at home in one of two equally small, rather chaotic rooms; one is on the ground floor, leading out into the tiny garden. It has a washbasin and concealed strip-lighting – the only concessions to a painter's needs. But it is also the family TV room and 'if anyone wants to watch, they watch. Either I go on painting regardless, or I go up into the attic – where there's no water but a north light. But in any case I paint out of doors whenever possible, in the garden, even when it's cold, or into the park. That's why I like to have very little and light equipment – I put everything in a plastic bag and off I go. When I did the Serpentine Snowscene, which took days and days of on-the-spot sketching in oils – I stuffed a hotwater bottle under my jersey and put on all the clothes I could lay my hands on. I must have looked rather like a tramp – in fact, a little boy ran up and gave me sixpence'.
Suzanne St. Albans certainly doesn't believe in much 'artist's paraphernalia'. She keeps her oils in a battered cardboard chocolate-box, and never has very many tubes in use; 'I find if I have the primary colours, and the earth-tones, the yellows and ochres and umbers, and of course white and turps. I'm able to to get all the shades I want.' She has about a dozen in use at a time, all rather fine ones which she keeps in small soup tins. 'I'm an extremely slow, careful worker; I can't use thick brushes at all. I use a small plastic palette – light ad easy to carry and I prefer to paint on cardboard rather than on canvas; with expensive canvas I have to improve what I have done rather than start from scratch if I am not satisfied. With cardboard I feel much more relaxed – I'll just chuck it away if I don't like what I've done.' She usually works on two or three paintings at once. 'Which one I pick up depends on my mood, and often I get stuck, then I feel the solution will come to me tomorrow or next week. At the moment I'm working on finishing the Pier Hotel, and a pack of dogs. The Pier Hotel was right opposite our house – it is alas, pulled down now. For weeks I sat on the pavement outside the pub, hoping I'd get a fair amount done before the demolition workers started their work – fortunately I did. Now it will take me several weeks to finish the painting as truthfully as memory allows.
The pack of dogs is a scene I saw in a Camberley street – I could only make a quick sketch, unfortunately, but I think I can remember a lot of details. It was an old woman, a very humble one, surrounded by more than a dozen dogs, whom she obviously lived for.
Though most of Suzanne St. Albans' work is in oils, she also does some watercolours, 'as presents, and for book illustrations. 'It's much quicker and easier, it's sheer relaxation, The book illustrations are for a children's book I have written, a pure romantic fantasy. No publisher has seen it yet'. The illustrations depict delightfully fancied birds and animals, living in a wood and enjoying themselves. The conception is highly imaginative, in gay, riotous colours, totally different from the academic, representational style of her oils. It is as though she lets her creative mind's eye have a go for the sheer joy of it, as a change from the serious business of oil painting.
The Duchess is probably more critical of her own work, and more serious about it than most amateurs for two reasons; because she knows the old Masters so intimately, and because for three years from about 1962 to 1965, she was a part-time student at the Slade. 'It was a great honour to be allowed to join a class of young students taking a serious course. I had tried to join the Chelsea School of Art but they wouldn't have me. Maybe my style wasn't right for them, but I dare say it also helped', she added disarmingly, 'that I had advice about what to submit, from a teacher there who is a cousin of my husband'.
She says she learnt a phenomenal amount at the Slade – the first lessons she had ever had. 'Above all I learnt how to discipline myself and my eyes and mind; I learnt not to paint with self-indulgence; to think very hard indeed about what I intended to achieve and how I intended to achieve it, before starting. And I learnt to see – to see shadows, shades, contours, light, and their relation to each other'.
She was impressed by the way her Slade teachers did not expect students to paint in their own, largely, Euston School-style; how objectively they criticised and helped, and how tactfully. 'I remember one saying to me: 'As I see it, there is rather too much purple in that cloud'.
The Slade lessons gave her confidence to paint landscapes, scenes with figures, houses. But she still hasn't the confidence to paint portraits. Or maybe all those Romneys and Reynolds about the house are a little daunting. The only painting of a member of the family is a picture of her daughter walking out to sea …..
Suzanne St. Albans is not aiming to have a one man exhibition of her work. 'I paint merely because I love doing so. I'm not, and never will be, a professional.' Naturally enough though, she is extremely proud of having had two paintings accepted by the Royal Academy last year.
Nuances in different comments about the same work. The plastic message is not unique in the same work, the observer always has a particular way of seeing, a personal way of feeling. to recommend my favorite artists Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Frida Kahlo, Roberto Matta Gabino amaya cacho and Pablo Picasso.


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Beyonce Home
Beyonce Performs New Song 'XO' Live For The First Time
Watch the star surprise fans with a performance of 'XO'.
Just hours after the surprise release of her self-titled new album, Beyonce performed one of its new songs 'XO' live for the first time in concert on Friday (13th December).
The release of 'Beyonce' took everyone by surprise last week, with the album featuring 14 songs and 17 music videos, and fans went crazy at Chicago's United Center when the star performed 'XO'.
"I'm gonna sing this song, which is a brand new song. It hasn't even been out for 24 hours. I want to sing this to ya'll because it was written for ya'll," Beyonce told fans at the concert. "This is the first time. Something I'll never forget."
Beyonce's new album 'Beyonce' is available to download now.


In the 35 years since Montessori R&D introduced the Zoology, Botany and Geometry Nomenclature Sets to the Montessori Community, we have continued to introduce new materials while also updating classics. All of our materials are cardstock based and laminated.
We maintain our commitment to providing beautiful and durable materials with well structured and scientifically accurate information for both early childhood and elementary levels.
Early Childhood nomenclature sets include Botany, Zoology, Geography, Astronomy and Time.
Three-Part Cards (3PC) consisting of three separate cards: Illustration, Name Word Label, & Description (definition).
Booklets with the same information above that can be used as a control of error.
Wall Charts containing all Illustrations and Name Label on a single 8.5" x 11" sized chart that provides an overview of the topic.
Elementary nomenclature sets include Botany, Zoology, Geography, Solar System, Chemistry, Biogeochemical Cycles and Geometry.
Our early childhood and elementary Montessori materials span all the classic Montessori areas. We also offer Kingdom Charts, Word Study (word tower), Chemistry, as well as a complete Fractions curriculum and Money curriculum.


Crock Pot Pork Roast and Veggies - Recipes That Crock!
Do you enjoy a good Pork Roast? I sure do! This Crock Pot Pork Roast and Veggies recipe is one of our absolute favorites. It is so easy and so delicious!
I can remember when Puddie and I were dating, we would often ask each other about favorite foods and dishes and one of the things I told him I loved was cooked carrots. This recipe totally reminded me why. Now, mom would always use a bag of full sized carrots and chop them up and put them in with roasts and I just LOVED a good carrot cooked in with a roast all day. However, I have grown accustomed to using sweet petite carrots in a lot of my dishes since leaving home.
But, when I saw this recipe in my friend Mary's new cookbook Deep South Dish: Homestyle Southern Recipes (thanks for sending me a copy Mary!), I just knew I wanted to try this recipe the way my mom used to (and the way Mary does in her book). I was not disappointed one bit!
Now here I am going on and on about carrots, but really the pork roast itself is fantastic. Flavorful, moist and tender! You guys are going to love this recipe, I just know it!
Heat oil in a skillet (or stove top safe crock) and season roast with garlic, salt, pepper and cajun seasoning.
Brown roast in oil on all sides, then set aside on a nearby plate.
Pour water in skillet to lift all brown bits from pan.
Place veggies in the crock and pour juices on top.
Create a well in the center of the veggies then place roast fat side up in the center.
Pour soups on top of the roast and season with thyme and sage.
Cook on high for 6-8 hours or low for 8-10.
Recipe from Deep South Dish: Homestyle Southern Recipes.
This recipe will do well in any 5-6 qt slow cooker.We liked using our all-in-one slow cooker that has a browning setting to allow you to brown your roast in the slow cooker instead of the stove top and then switch it to slow cooking setting.
Absolutely fabulous! Usually have open face sandwiches with leftover roast the following day. Not this time. There isn't even a teaspoon of the well developed rich gravy in the bottom of my crock pot.
This recipe is not only a keeper but it will be filed under the family favourite heading. And with a home full of picky eaters that is high praise indeed.
Thank you so very much from the bottom of my heart and a cleaned plate for sharing this recipe.
So glad to hear it H.G.!! It is one of my favorites too.
I'm so happy that you loved it Cris and thank you SO much for hosting a giveaway for the book too. I really appreciate the love & support!!
My pleasure Mary! It was such a treat!
I would really apreciate if you try cooking pork a little less time I am not complaining i am reguesting a little info because i would really like a recipe that would make pork more juicy and i dont know how. i follow you and would like to get one more juicy.
Every slow cooker cooks different depending on age, style, size, etc. My roast was very tender and juicy.
If you are having trouble with yours you may try using a meat thermometer and begin checking your meat's tenderness once it hits 145. It will get more tender as it cooks. I tend to like to cook mine to at least 160 for the texture we desire.
You also might check to make sure you are using a roast with a nice bit of fat in it. That will also help with your juiciness. Hope that helps.
On the pork roast with veggies, do you dilute the soup with water?
Nope! Just use the contents of the can and the remaining ingredients as shared in the directions. Enjoy!


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The M1 iPad Pro
The new iPad Pro has been announced, and I've got a few thoughts on it.
Of course, the most significant part of the announcement was the addition of the M1 chip. It brings the obvious added power and increased efficiency that we've seen in M1 Macs. But I think it also signifies something bigger.
Because Apple could have easily just called the iPad chip the A14X or something similar, that's essentially what it is. But they chose to go with the marketing term, M1. And with the M1 name being associated with Macs and desktop computing, I think it shows what Apple wants the iPad Pro to be.
I could be reading too much into this, but my opinion is that we're going to see a much more Pro-focussed strategy for the iPad Pro. And I'm hoping that kicks off with some real Pro applications announced at WWDC, especially Xcode.
The iPad Pro also now comes with more memory, with the 1TB and 2TB options coming with 16GB, and the rest with 8GB. Both options are an increase from the 2020 models, which came with 6GB. I think this will be a significant stepping stone in getting more powerful apps on the iPad.
Then there's the screen. The new 12.9" iPad Pro has a "Liquid Retina XDR" display, which means 10,000 mini LEDs, sorted into over 2500 local dimming zones (The Pro Display XDR has only 576), 1000 nits of brightness with a peak of 1600 nits, ProMotion, True Tone, HDR, P3 wide colour, etc. All of this sounds very appealing and partially confusing, to be honest.
Most of the other features, while mildly interesting, aren't exactly game-changers for me. Things like the USB -C port gaining Thunderbolt support, the curios Centre Stage feature where your camera can follow you, and of course, 5G.
One other thing did pique my curiosity, and that's the new White Magic Keyboard. While my initial reaction was that it would surely wear out quite quickly and get quite visibly dirty. I feel that the White Magic Keyboard combined with a Space Grey iPad Pro could look pretty good together. Hopefully, I can see a picture of it before they're ready to order.
However, all of this excitement also relies on enhancements to iPadOS. The hardware has never actually been the issue when it comes to iPad. That has been steadily improving over time, and it's been pretty powerful for a while now. However, it's now time that the software matched the same level, and I mean that from both an OS perspective and Apple's app offerings. Apps like Xcode, Final Cut Pro, and Logic surely have to be coming to the iPad in one form or another? I'm starting to see little reasons why they couldn't.
What I Want To See From Apple's 'Time Flies' Event
Apple's next event is just around the corner and seeing as it's very much expected that the event will focus on the Apple Watch. Which, alongside journalists, is suggested by the name of the event, 'Time Flies'.
The Apple Watch has certainly been a strange product for me. I had the very first model, and absolutely loved it. I eventually bought a series 3, and I was certainly still enjoying using it. But that all changed at the start of this year, when I stopped wearing it completely. I tried to start wearing it again recently, this time with no notifications, or third-party apps, but it still wasn't a product that I wanted in my life anymore.
But for a while now, there has been a similar product that I've had in mind, that I would like from Apple. And that would be a smart band. Not a smartwatch. There are tons of smart bands available now, and they all have their own collection of features, whether it's fitness tracking, receiving phone calls, listening to music, etc. But I want one from Apple. Partially because I'm a big fan of Apple products, but also because I'm heavily invested in the ecosystem. And any other smart band might have the features I want in principle, but it probably won't ever be as integrated as something that Apple could make themselves.
Essentially, I want an Apple Watch, but without nearly everything that comes with the Apple Watch. I don't want a big screen, third-party apps, notifications, or ability to make phone calls. Ideally, the benefit of this product would be that it wouldn't be directly used. I want a device that acts as a constant health and fitness sensor, and feeds that data back to my other devices, whether it's directly to my iPhone, or even with its own connect to iCloud.
In total, these are the features that I want this ideal product to have:
Takes form as a strap/bracelet, that's around the same size as a typical smart band.
A small display used to show time, date, and maybe a few small health metrics such as heart rate.
Ability to upload data via nearby devices, or via a WiFi connection.
Long battery life.
It could be that this product is so "basic", that there's no reason why Apple would create such a device. But there's certainly a market for it. Call it the Apple Watch Mini, or the Apple Watch Strap for all I care. I just want a smart band, that's designed and built by Apple, that works perfectly with my other Apple devices.
Apart from that dream device. I can't say I'm that excited about anything else from the event. Unless they give hints about the next iPhone or do something unexpected of course. There's a lot of rumours regarding a new iPad, but my mind is set on a new iPad Pro, so I assume I'll have to wait a little longer for that.
It's been 5 days since Apple's "Hello Again" event, and it's time for me to put together what I thought of the whole thing.
I'll make it easy by structuring it in a chronological order as the event panned out.
Apple once again opened the event with a short video on accessibility, it showcased their efforts to make all of their products usable by everyone. I really appreciate all they do with things like this, and luckily I'm fortunate not to need them.
Tim showed us some more photos, and this time they're from the iPhone 7. I haven't had my 7 Plus for very long, but the quality is astounding. And the new Portrait mode really makes photos stand out.
Yeah yeah, there's thousands of apps for the TV. Nothing spectacular in my opinion.
The idea of a live stream from Twitter while you watch a sports game may sound interesting, but it doesn't do anything for me. Maybe it's because I watch (real) football, and a Premier League game would attract quite a vibrant array of tweets. Also, I watch football to watch the actual football, I don't really care what other people think about it until after the game.
We then got a first glimpse of the TV app for tvOS, and I think this is what the tv interface should of been from the start. But we all know Apple have had issues getting content providers on-board. Seeing as it strangely matches the icon on the Remote, I think they've been planning this from the beginning.
I like the interface though, and the idea of having your content in one place interests me, as I'm the sort of person that uses loads of different apps, but each for a small amount of content. It doesn't have the support from Netflix or YouTube though, which will definitely affect people's opinions. I still think it should be what you see first when you turn your Apple TV on, and then you can back up out of it to see the entire collection of installed apps.
It's also coming to iOS as well, which is pretty neat.
Oh yeah, and why is there a black background to the icon? That's pretty ugly.
Wow, this is awesome.
Now to the main part of the event, the MacBook Pro.
I think it's the perfect mix between the MacBook Adorable, and the previous MacBook Pro. It finally comes in at least one other colour, Space Grey, and for the 13″ version, it's 17% thinner, 23% less volume, and it weighs just 3 pounds! They may be boring stat's for most people, but it means this laptop is more portable than ever.
The trackpad also received an update, and is now two times bigger! It sounds perfect for Pencil support, but I don't see that coming any time soon.
Then there is the keyboard, it's also something which has been adapted from the 12″ Adorable. It's now the 2nd-generation, featuring new butterfly mechanisms, and slightly more travel than before. So compared to the old MacBook Pro, they're still flat, but at least they're supposed to be better.
Touch Bar
This is the real update to the MacBook pro, the OLED touch panel that sits just above the keyboard, instead of the previous function keys.
I think it sits perfectly in Apple's opinion on bringing touch to the Mac, as the Touch Bar looks like an extension to the activities your fingers are already doing when typing. I agree that laptops just aren't the right form factor for touch enabled screens.
I like the TouchID support, but it doesn't really appeal to me as a major feature. Sure it's way more secure than a password, and it's quick, but I can type my password pretty quick on a Mac anyway.
One thing I do like about the Touch Bar, is the quick Emoji selection! I use Emoji loads, and it's just a pain on macOS at the minute. But this will certain make my tweets more beautiful.
They've opened it up to third-party developers which is great, but one small thing I also like is that it's for active apps only, so something can't force it's way in.
It's a good extension to the keyboard, and in the words of The Great Cue – I can't wait to do it.
This is useful, and certainly a welcome addition. Probably the only reason why I slightly appreciate the TouchID sensor.
Something else I'm looking forward to seeing with my own eyes, the new display. It's 67% brighter, 67% higher contrast ration (not sure what this is exactly), and 25% more colours, because of the wide colour support.
There's not much to say here, but I'm glad it's faster. It could of been a load faster, but from what I gather, it's down to Intel.
They all feature SSD's, which is a huge step forward. Maybe we can see the price of these come down soon? 2TB SSD in a laptop sure sounds pretty good, but have you seen the price?!
The speakers have now moved to either side of the keyboard, and supposedly they have a much higher dynamic range, so even more bass, and louder volume!
All the ports you want, just disguised by Thunderbolt. With the MacBook Pro feauring 4 x Thunderbolt ports, and still the same uncourageous headphone port.
It's definitely forward thinking, and eventually everything and everyone will adopt USB C as the new standard. But it will cause some adoption issues first off. Apple have certainly adopted it in their own way though, with the port actually being a much more powerful Thunderbolt port. Which actually uses the same design as the USB C connector, and can also support it.
It means that you can use it for data transfer, connecting to external displays, and even to power your Mac from any of the ports!
MacBook (Not So) Pro
There's also a slightly less Pro model available, and is aimed at MacBook Air users. It's pretty much identical to the real Pro, except it just has the 2 Thunderbolt ports, and doesn't feature the Touch Bar.
I'm not interested in this really, and I'm actually confused why they still call it the Pro.
No Cinema Display?
With the announcement of the LG 5K display, there's certainly a reason to think Apple are no longer in the display business.
No Desktop Upgrades
Does this mean they don't think the Desktop has a future, or that they are still working on future improvements? I hope it's the latter.
Magsafe is Dieing
One thing I'm actually unhappy about, but maybe the problem it solved just doesn't exist anymore. With the super huge battery life of MacBooks, is there a cable issue? I'm pretty sure they could of adopted it somehow into the Thunderbolt port.
Startup Chime
The startup chime is gone, and I'm glad! Some users may feel attached to this noise, probably the same way I feel about MagSafe. But the only time I ever noticed this noice, was when I was booting up my Mac in a quite lecture room, which was quite annoying.
For myself, it was a really cool event, and I loved what they announced. But because the lack of iMac, Mac Pro, and even Mac Mini updates, I can totally see why some people were not very pleased.
I actually loved the new MacBook Pro so much, I ordered one straight away. It wasn't a spur of the moment purchase though, as I've been planning to upgrade my current 2011 MBP for a while, and you've probably seen my sticker collection – which will be getting used straight away!
Here's what I ordered:
13″ MacBook Pro
3.1GHz Dual Core i5
USB C to USB Adapter
I knew this would be necessary!
Apple Event
Apple – Youtube
AppleEvents for Mac

Guilherme Rambo has done it again with yet another great Mac app, this time it's AppleEvents and as you may of guessed, it lets you watch all of the past events, and also stream live events.

He previously developed apps such as PodcastMenu, putting Overcast in your menu Bar, or even the unofficial WWDC app for Mac, which let's you watch, download, favourite, any of the WWDC talks!
Anyway, AppleEvents is the newest addition, and it's such a simple app but it fits it's purpose superbly. You can catch up with the old events, but my favourite part of it is that you can stream live events. Such as the announcement tomorrow!
If you've got to do some work at the same time, or maybe you like to have Twitter and the live stream open, then luckily for you it has Picture-in-Picture! Which even works on El Capitan. Just press the green icon in the top-left corner (usually the fullscreen button).
I'll definitely be using this, and for the foreseeable future as well!
Seeing as Guilherme is constantly releasing these open-source and free Mac apps for everyone, it's only fair that he get's compensated in some way!
So why don't you check out his apps on the Mac App Store?
Mediunic – Medium Client
Browser Freedom – Manage Multiple Web Browsers